Running to Boston

New York Marathon race report

2011-11-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

On Sunday November 6, 2011, I ran the New York Marathon, finishing in a time of 4:17:57. That finish time is only a small piece of a long story that started about a year ago, so sit back and get a coffee- or jump ahead to the end if you are only interested in the race itself.

Preamble:

I grew up in northeastern U.S., close to Boston and about four hours from New York City. I have been to New York several times in my life, including a high school day trip, a few family trips, visits to friends, and lastly a weekend with my mom and sister for my mom's 65th birthday in 2007. When my mom found out I was going to be running the New York marathon, she didn't hesitate to book a hotel room so that she and my dad could come be there with me. Then in February of this year, our lives took an unexpected turn. My otherwise very healthy mom had a massive brain hemorrhage (ruptured aneurism) leading to a stroke. She was in the ICU for a month, much of that time in critical condition. Miraculously she came out of her semi-coma, was eventually able to go through rehabilitation therapy, and recovered to about 95% of where she was before. Between February and September I took many trips to help her and my family during her long recovery journey. Up until as little as a month before my race she still wanted to come to New York, but we all decided my sister would come instead. As much as I would love to have had my parents come, logistically it would have been difficult to have them there. My sister and I got to spend some great time together, and she completely immersed herself in the role of the marathon support person.

I arrived in New York late on Thursday night, a day before my sister. As I said this was not my first time in New York, but that did not take away from the excitement and wide-eyed wonderment. Our hotel was right in the middle of Times Square. Many of the international tour companies had blocks of rooms in this area, so I was always surrounded by groups of runners amidst the New York excitement. I could write another long report about my two days in New York before the race, but I will keep it to the brief highlights: a short run with Marg to Central Park on Friday morning, dinner at two great restaurants with my sister, a Saturday matinee of Mamma Mia, and several trips to the Times Square Starbucks. We were blessed with beautiful fall weather and I wish I could have spent more time there.

Race day:

I had been warned about nightmarish pre-race logistics and long waiting times at the start area, but my experience was just the opposite. There were three start waves at 9:40, 10:10, and 10:40, and also three bib colours: blue, orange and green for the different start areas. Runners of each bib colour were mixed in each start wave time, and I was assigned green, wave 2 (10:10 start time). My ferry time was 7:30, and I went to the subway at about 6:45. I waited for about 10 minutes for the train, and I got to the ferry terminal at just before 7:20. There were so many keen people at the terminal with later ferry times that I did not get on the ferry until about 7:50. The ferry crossing was about a half-hour, and then another half-hour on the bus, plus there was a bit of walking and waiting in between. By the time I got to the green start village it was already about 9:15, and I had to check my bag by 9:30 for the wave 2 start. So much for waiting around with blankets and tarps.

After I checked my bag they were already announcing for wave 2 runners to enter the corrals. It was still a few minutes before the 9:40 wave 1 start, and the entrance to the corral was very cramped and crowded. Several of us were trying to get in, but the volunteers were about to shut us out saying there was no where to go. I was confused because I figured there must be a barricade somewhere inside to block the wave 2 people from crossing early- surely the corrals would open up more after the 9:40 start. I could not figure out why so many wave 2 people were already inside. I was not worried, though; I figured worst case scenario is they would have us wait until the 10:40 wave 3 start. But sure enough, after 9:40 space opened up and they let us in.

The green start area was on the lower deck of the bridge, and I was in the front group in wave 2. As we stood and waited in the corrals, we could see the masses of blue and orange runners on the upper deck going over the bridge. It was quite the sight and it was hard to believe that I was getting ready to run the same race; it all seemed to happen so quickly. There was lots of music and cheering in the corrals as we watched the clock tick forward toward the 30-minute mark when we would start.

The Race:

The start was very crowded and I was happy enough to take it very easy to warm up into my pace. My Garmin could not hold a good signal on the lower deck of the bridge, so I ignored it and ran by feel, checking my pace at the mile markers. I ended up running most of the race this way; there were timing mats and and clocks at each mile after mile 3, at 5K intervals, and at the half-way point. At 5K I was right where I wanted to be at 27:38, holding about a 5:30/km pace. By this point I realized I was bit overdressed- the weather was absolutely gorgeous with sunny skies and no wind, and a starting temperature of about 12 degrees Celsius. It would reach about 15 by the time we were done.

This race is unique in that the three different bib colours have different routes for the first 5K. The blue and orange groups started on the upper deck but split off from each other for a bit after the bridge. Our green group on the lower deck followed a completely different route after the bridge. All three groups would reunite shortly after the 5K mark. There were actually some bottlenecks in some parts of the course after that, probably because I was running amidst a large group of people aiming for a time of around four hours.

The next 5K went pretty smoothly and I was holding what felt like a perfect pace. Not too easy, not too hard, right in the marathon effort zone. I hit 10K at just over 55 minutes, with a second 5K split almost identical to the first. I was in a happy place.

The next 5K felt a bit harder; there was some steady climbing and it was getting a bit warmer, but overall I still felt excellent. I took my second gel break at around the 8-mile mark (13K). I passed the 15K mark at 1:24:01 (5K split in 28:51), so I lost about a minute total to the gel break and climbing. I did not realize how much time I lost so it did not really faze me. My plan was to stop at 5 miles and then every 3 miles for a quick gel/water break.

Sometime before the half-way point I started to have some GI discomfort which I was mostly able to ignore. Overall I was enjoying the course, the crowd, the spectators, and was immersed in the race; it was not until close to 20K that I realized that I was slowing down a bit. It did not seem like much as the miles went by and I thought I was making up time on the downhills, but I guess I was not. For those of you following the numbers, I was at 20K at 1:52:59, 5K split in 29:02, 21.1K at 1:59:21. So I had slowed to a pace of about 5:45/km, and average pace was about 5:37/km. But I knew I was still in great shape for a sub-4-hour race, I felt strong, and kept pushing on. I felt like I still had a higher gear in reserve, and was not worried about the pace at all. However, from around 14-15 miles the GI distress was getting worse and becoming hard to ignore. I was having trouble relaxing into my stride, and by mile 16 I was starting to dread the rest of the race. This is NOT the first time this has happened to me, but the first time in a race. I skipped the 17-mile gel and I thought I should stop at a port-a-potty, but they were all locked. Oh, forget it, I thought, and kept going. Mistake! After 18 miles it was clear that a stop was going to be unavoidable. There were port-a-potties at every aid station near each mile marker, but I could not see any as I approached the water table. In a desperate tone I asked a volunteer, “Where are the port-a-potties??” He pointed just past the water tables on the sidewalk, and I ran over to find an empty one. I will spare the details, but it took me about 5 minutes to take care of business to the point where I would be comfortable again. I did not want to have to stop again. I sent a short text my sister to let her know I was behind, but I was OK (no details). I also texted Rob who I knew would inform the trackers on Runningmania. Leaving the aid-station area I ran a bit along the sidewalk and thought to myself, “OK, here we go. Time to finish this marathon,” and I re-entered the course. I felt so much better physically and mentally. I had no more GI distress for the rest of the race, and decided with my time goal totally out the window that I would just relax and enjoy the rest of the race as much as possible. I was at just over 2:50 on my watch when I stopped, about 2:55 when I got going again and I knew I would be out there for more than another hour with over 13K to go, even if I was able to recover to a perfect pace. And my legs were not even thinking about that option anyway.

I was euphoric as I passed the 30K mark, and the later the 35K and 40K marks. As we re-entered Manhattan around 34K, the crowds continued to urge us on. This was my favourite part of the course, through the upper east side down the residential part of Fifth Avenue and eventually through Central Park. My legs started feeling the full effects of the distance but I never had to stop to a walk. I kept a slow but steady pace to the end. I tried to find my sister at her designated spectator point near the south-east corner of the park on Fifth Ave; she did see me but I somehow missed her as I scanned the crowd.

The last turn at Columbus Circle and the corner of the park felt amazing, even though I was hurting all over. The best of the on-course bands was here playing "Born to Run". The final 800m stretch to the finish line seemed to go on forever and it was great to finally cross. The time was just over 4:18 on my watch (official time was 4:17:57). My second worst time (but my third best ), and a fantastic experience overall.

After the finish line we got "recovery bags" with food, Gatorade, and water, and there were photographers taking finish pictures which I skipped. Then there was what we were all calling a long “zombie march” to the area to get our bags. Afterwards I had a longer walk back to Times Square (I had waited for a bus, but walking was actually easier at this point). I met my sister, my cousin, and his wife at our hotel for beer and some food, and later went to dinner with Lesley, Jacqueline, Leo, Ed, and their group. Everyone was enjoying sharing their stories, and it seemed that most people had a rough race except for Lesley (you go girl!).

Shortly after the race I was having hugely mixed emotions. I was thrilled to have finished such a great race with all its excitement and lore, but could not hide the disappointment with my time. I told everyone I had no desire to do another marathon. But I have already changed my mind and will be doing the Vancouver Marathon in May. Marathons are tough and unpredictable, but that is part of their charm. After the personal challenges in my life in the winter and spring I still ended up having an great year of training with several PB's and a truly enjoyable marathon training cycle in the fall. I know I am in the best shape of my life and I love what the training does for me. I do not race a lot of marathons, so it is tough when it does not all come together on the big day. But there is so much more to racing marathons than the number on the finish clock.

And my mother? She was at home at her computer tracking me the whole time, making several phone calls to my sister. She found it so exciting to be able to do that, almost feeling like she was in New York with me. And, in spirit, she was.

Taper time- let the madness begin

2011-10-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

I did my last long run for my marathon training yesterday, and it was a great one. I ran around Stanley Park three times, including twice on the road over Prospect Point hill. The total distance was 34K, and it felt stronger than any of my other long runs have felt this season. The run took me 3:24 for an average pace of 6:00/km. I am now ready to back off a bit on distance for tapering. The marathon is just seventeen days away, and I will be leaving for New York two weeks from tomorrow. I am already starting to experience that nervous excitement that will build even more as the race approaches. I am trying to remain calm and relaxed, though. I find myself thinking about my goals and studying the course map and elevation guide. It looks like it will be a great course, but the hills will not be trivial. I am starting to think about my pacing strategy, which I hone a bit as the race gets closer.

Back to blogging

2011-10-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

My plans to get back to blogging in August sort of fell apart again. And now here I am at the end of marathon training for New York. I did train well, and many people followed along on DailyMile, Itsmyrun, and Runningmania. I kept this blog open as a portal into those sites, and if you are interested in the details of my training you can read about them there.I had to stop racing for much of the summer but had a good half-marathon race last week (report posted). Now I have one long run tomorrow before the taper begins for New York, and I can honestly say that my training has gone as well as I would have hoped. I had some solid peak weeks, some strong workouts and long runs, and a great week of running with my coach back in July. My training has been consistent with about a 3:50-3:55 goal pace for the marathon. However, I've always had trouble hitting my "expected" pace in the marathon, so I will likely aim for a reasonable 3:55 goal time. Even this sounds ambitious to me since my previous best is 4:06, but I do think it is aggressively achievable.

Portland Half-Marathon Race Report

2011-10-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

Portland Half-Marathon
October 9, 2011

Gun: 1:49:33, Chip 1:49:14
181/2272 overall, 56/1668 Female
7/218 F45-49 (not a hugely competitive race with a large charity runner/walker component, but I'll still take it ;) )

As I planned my marathon training for this fall, I knew I wanted to do a half-marathon in October as a tune-up and fitness test. I picked Portland as a change from the BC races I've done before. I had heard lots of good things about this race; plus, we have friends to stay with which made it a nice mini-vacation. In preparing for the race, I thought I was in shape for about 1:45, which would mean a pace of just under 5:00/km. My training has been really strong overall, but I had mild cold last week my paces were dragging a bit. I was not sure if it would affect my race time, but I decided to wait and see how I felt as the race got started.

The 7:00 am start was early for my liking, and it was actually still dark in Portland we assembled in the corrals. The half-marathoners and marathoners start together and much of the beginning of the course is the same. Rob and I had met for coffee before the start, and we wished each other good luck as we went to our respective corrals. The gun went off and I quickly got into a smooth steady pace. The course starts on a gradual uphill which was a bit difficult, but nicely starts to come down after about mile 3 (just after 5K). I had settled into a pace that was over 5:00/km average, but the downhill was fast and felt great.

I probably should have studied the course map a bit more carefully because I didn't realize I would be running most of the half-marathon race with the marathoners. I could not remember where the split was, but as I approached the half-way point I thought it should have been earlier. This race has way more marathoners than half-marathoners, and I kept peeking around me to make sure there were still some half-marathon bibs near me. There were... but not many. After a stretch along the river in downtown, we went on a long out-and-back along the railroad tracks. After the 6-mile mark I finally saw where the marathon/half-marathon split was on the other side of the road (around 11 miles). I thought to myself, once I get to there it won't be long before we're done.

My pace was pretty steady but I always felt like I was fighting for it. I remember hitting the 5-mile mark (just over 8K) at about 41:30, which I knew was off my original goal pace but I was still running pretty strongly and consistently for what I had that day. I did not bring water with me and stopped three water stations on the course-- at one of them the cups had about 20 mL in them each. I don't know what those volunteers were thinking! I took about five of them. And at another I got to the last table and it wasn't water but gummy bears. I took some but later threw them down. In retrospect it might have been easier to have my own bottle with me, but I'm not sure how much difference it makes on a half-marathon course. I made my last stop at a water station around 9 miles where I also took the gel that Rob generously gave to me.

As a faster half-marathoner for this field, I had been assigned to start in the first corral. This was odd, though, as my expected pace was slower than the marathoners in that corral. The 3:15-marathoners and slower were in the second corral and a minute or two behind the start gun; therefore, the various faster pace groups kept catching me and passing me. Around 6 miles I was passed by the 3:30 pace group, knowing that they were going approximately my goal pace. I hoped maybe I could hang with them, but I couldn't. At this point I wanted to make sure at least the 3:40 group never passed me, because that would mean I had slowed to slower than a 1:50 time. They never did. Rob was in that group, who did see me on the out-and-back section and tried to reach out his hand to wave/high-five. I didn't realize it was him until he passed, but the gesture was still appreciated.

I came upon the 10-mile mark (just over 16K) at exactly 1:23:00, so I was keeping a very even pace. I knew I could hang on for the last 3.1 miles (5K) and had hopes of possibly speeding up to squeeze in under 1:48. But instead I had a pretty hard time hanging on at that point and actually slowed a little bit. I am not sure why- this never happens to me and I was pushing pretty hard on the course. The last 2-3 miles felt like they went on forever, but I finally came in just over 1:49 (official time was 1:49:14).

My time was two minutes slower than my PB from May, but I am still very happy with this result given how I felt overall. I remember after that race in May I wrote that sometimes you feel like you have to fight the whole way to keep your pace, whereas other times you feel like something is giving it to you and you just have to hang on. I will not always have that magical feeling, but I can still have a lot of good races. I had to work hard for it Sunday, but it was so worth it. The overall race experience was amazing and I would definitely do this one again.

Now with less than four weeks till New York and just a handful more key workouts, it's time for sharpening and tapering. I am so looking forward to that race.

My kilometre splits from my watch for anyone who is interested in these things. (The course is marked in miles, but I still like kilometres on my watch.)

1 5:08
2 5:08
3 5:07
4 5:14 (uphill)
5 5:15
6 4:46 (downhill, yay!)
7 4:46
8 5:11 (still downhill but water stop at end)
9 4:58
10 5:04
11 5:05
12 5:10
13 5:11
14 5:27 (water stop)
15 5:07
16 5:08
17 5:13
18 5:14
19 5:17 (small hill, but still surprised to slow here)
20 5:10
21 5:12
21.26 1:14

Final time: 1:49:14

Failed blog ... maybe

2011-08-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine once told me that 95% of all blogs end within a month. I was determined to keep going longer on mine from the start, and I did... but lately I have been slack. It has been a crazy year for me with my mom's illness (she's doing great now, by the way), and a bit up and down with training. But I did have some great races in the spring, and after a bit of a disappointing set of races in June, I managed to get back on track in July. I am now in the beginning of training for the New York Marathon in November.

I now plan to continue this blog, with a bit less of a clinical style Some of you follow my training through the various logs I have (see sidebar), and I will continue to log there. I hope to be able to post some more interesting posts as my training continues. So if you're still with me-- thanks! I plan to blog more regularly now, even if I only have one or two readers. I have also updated my race plans/results page.

Race report: BMO Vancouver Half-marathon

2011-05-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

BMO Vancouver Half-marathon
Sunday May 1, 2011:

"Sometimes it just works."

Official time: 1:47:20 (PB by two minutes, course best by five minutes)
Overall placing: 806/6522
Female: 214/4165 (wow, a lot more women doing this race than men!)
F40-44: 30/568 (top 5.2%)

A bit of history: This is the sixth time I have done this race. It was my first half-marathon in 2004 and my first sub-2:00 in 2005. In 2010 and 2008 I ran strong races having come back from difficult injury or other issues. 2007 was the only year I had a very disappointing race, coming off a great spring race season. I had run the 10k race of my dreams three weeks before and had high hopes for the half-marathon. I ended up having a very off day and difficult race with a 1:52 time. I was able to repeat that time in 2008 and 2010, and later in 2010 improved on that time to get my sub-1:50 PB.

Fast forward to this spring: because of family and time issues I have not had a very focused season of training. But I have been doing good workouts when I can, including some strong speed work and long runs every other week or so, and I have been getting in consistent mileage (although lower than I've liked). Previously I would not have thought that this style of training really suited me, but I have been having some decent results with it. I had two really good 15k races in January and March where I was able to average under 5:00/km, but I had to miss my favourite half-marathon in February. I was eager to test out my speed two weeks ago at the Sun Run 10k where I had that magical PB four years ago, but came up flat this year. It just wasn't my day.

But some of that magic came back yesterday.

I felt very good as I waited in the starting corral for the gun; after the gun went off and we started to move forward I felt an amazing sense of joy and excitement. We were blessed with perfect race weather and somehow I knew that this was going to be a good day. I had to do some weaving at the crowded start, but very soon found my groove. As early as 4K into the race I knew I was having a great day. It is hard to explain, but some days you feel like you have to fight for the pace the whole time, and some days you feel like something is giving it to you and you just have to take it and hold on. That is what I felt yesterday.

This is a gorgeous but tough course with some rolling hills and a long climb in Stanley Park up to the top of Prospect Point. This is one of the biggest hills I have ever seen in a road race- a 200-ft climb over about two kilometres starting at the 12K mark. Since I have done this race so many times, I knew the course well and knew exactly what to expect. I knew the hill would slow me down and I figured this into my plan. I thought I could pace for about a 1:47 finish, which would require an average pace of 5:05/km. My plan was to stick to a pace of just over 5:00/km average for the first 12K hoping to be under 61 minutes. Then I would attack the hill, expecting but not fearing the inevitable slow-down. If I could stay strong to that point, I knew I could use the downhill after 14K and push hard to the end. I am not exactly sure how I did it but I was able to execute this plan perfectly. The early kilometres felt tough but strong and the pace was coming just as I wanted. At 12K, just at the start of the uphill, I was at about 1:00:40 on my watch. The climb was slow but I just pushed as hard as I could without feeling like I was going overboard. I passed the 14K marker at just over 1:12, so I slowed by about 40 sec/km on that hill. After 14K I was ready to take the gift of the downhill and hold on strongly to the finish. It felt really hard in the last kilometres, but I knew I could hold to the pace as I pushed through. The beautiful weather brought out a larger than normal number of spectators and running through the tunnel of cheering along the Beach Ave corridor helped me greatly. I did have some calf-cramping which forced me to back off the pace just a bit, but I was still able to average about 5:00/km in the last 7K. I crossed the finish line at just over 1:48 on the clock with a chip time of 1:47:20. That is more than a two-minute PB and about five minutes faster than I have been able to do on this course in the past.

Overall I had close to what I would call the perfect race. I am hoping I can build on this success as I do more races this year, so keep watching. :) Thanks for reading.

Vancouver Sun Run 10K 2011

2011-04-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

Short report (for those who hate searching through a report for the results):

Vancouver Sun Run 10K, April 17, 2011
Official time: 48:40 (4:53/km pace)
2727 out of approx 40,000 finishers
32/2032 in F40-44

Long report, Intro:

I was excited to be racing the Sun Run 10K this year for the first time since 2007. I had one of my best races that day four years ago and hoped I could find some of that magic this year. I have not been able to race it since then: in 2008 I was away, in 2009 I was injured, and last year I was in injury-recovery mode and ran it with my two kids. This year I thought I might even have a shot at a PB (47:00 from 2007), but at least I wanted to give it my all. My original plan was to run with my son again this year (my daughter ran with her friends), and I was happy to do that. But late last week I came up with a scheme to race the course myself first and then catch up to my son who would be arriving at the start-line around 10:00 with my husband. The official start time of the race is 9:00, but since it took us till almost 10:30 to cross the start-line last year with the wave start, I figured there was no need for them to rush to the start. The finish line and start line are about 1.5K apart, so this would be quite doable.

Sun Run Part 1:

My friend TK and I got to the start area pretty early and made our way into the yellow wave corral just after 8:00. This is the area just behind the elite/seeded wave, and they close this corral at about 8:30. We were pretty close to the front of the fence. It was a cold morning but we tried to stay warm by moving around and dancing to the sound of the Neurotics, an awesome rock cover band that plays at the start every year. The music and crowd energy was infectious; still, was a long time to wait with no good time to warm up for the race.

The elites were off right at 9:00, and immediately afterwards they opened our fence and let us through. I thought there would be more of a wait so I was not even quite ready, but got into it quickly. I love the downhill start of this race, and let it move me down with a 4:40 first kilometre. Up to kilometre three, I was just over 14 minutes and right where I needed to be for a 47-minute finish and I felt pretty good. But I never really got into that completely fluid feeling as I had hoped for.

I slowed a bit but was still at just under 24 minutes at the 5K mark. I felt like I could hold on to a sub-48 finish at this point, but it got harder and harder to hold on. I had some bladder pressure issues (YIKES!!) and cramping, which made it uncomfortable and difficult to fully relax. I was plagued by negative thoughts that I just had to push away: "Maybe I should drop out, maybe I'm too old for this." Just shut up and run. I tried to dig deep but the second half of the race just felt really, really tough; I did manage to keep the pace at sub-5:00 kilometres the rest of the way. I crossed the finish line at 48:44 (official time was 48:40). So not exactly the race-day magic I was hoping for, but still a decent effort for what I had. I was happy to be finished... at least temporarily.

Sun Run Part 2:

I got some water and then exited the finish area to make my way back up to the start area. With my quick start it was just after 9:50am, so I figured I had plenty of time to slowly make my way back up to the start area. But just then I got a text from my husband saying they were already moving up in the corral and would soon cross the start-line. I told him I would be there as soon as I can and started to move more quickly. Five minutes later, they were on course (walking), so we decided to meet about 1K down the hill from the start-line, just before the course turns onto Denman Street. They had to wait for me for about two or three minutes; I quickly grabbed the backpack from my husband and started running with my son. I worried my son would be upset for not being able to run right from the start, but he was fine. We were sort of caught up in a sea of mostly walkers, but it did not faze him at all. If anything it kept his pace moderate enough so he could run most of the way. I actually had trouble keeping up with him at some points on my tired legs and running with the small pack. He stopped at water stops only three brief times, and kept a fairly consistent pace of about 6:15/km.

After we crossed the Burrard Bridge and neared the 7K mark, I told him, “Only 2K and then we're at the Cambie Bridge. Let's really focus on these last 2K... then we're almost there.” He ran the rest without stopping. As we neared the 9K mark I told him, “You are doing so well today; next year we will both enter with green bibs and we'll run the whole thing together.” He crossed the finish line with an official time of 1:16:38. That is ten minutes faster than we did last year, and he would have been at least five minutes faster had it not been for the walk and wait for me at the beginning.

Conclusion:

Overall I had a great day. Although I did not have my best race, I am happy I decided to race it on my own first. Maybe I did not quite get my game face on in that first 10K, but so be it-- I will have another chance soon. My time was slightly better than the one 10K I did last year, and the season is still early. Being able to come back up to the start and run the course again with my son made the day for me. He has not even been training for running-- he just does a lot of running around on his own, playing soccer with his friends, and plays floor hockey in an informal league. I would love to see what he could do for running if he focused on it. My whole family participated in what was a gorgeous race day; my daughter finished with a friend in just over 1:17 (their time was also lengthened by a forced stop before the finish for a medical emergency), and my husband and mother-in-law walked in 1:53.

Who will get to run Boston, Part 3

2011-03-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I posted that changes to the Boston Marathon registration and/or qualification process would be announced some time in early 2011.

On February 19, The BAA announced that effective for the 2013 Boston Marathon, qualifying times would be lowered by 5 minutes in each age-group category. For the 2012 Boston Marathon, qualifying times will remain the same as before, but some changes will be made in the registration process. Those with faster times within each age group category will be able to register sooner, thus making running time and not computer access time the limiting factor in whether one can get in. This graduated registration process will continue in 2013 and beyond.

What does this mean for me? First of all, it means that even if I had just made my sub-4:00 marathon time in October, likely would not have been good enough for a 2012 Boston entry. Unfortunately I do know some people who have qualifying times from fall marathons, but now might not be able to get in for 2012. Although I think the new system is a fair way of adressing the registration overload problems they had this past fall, it seems a bit unfair to those who thought they had qualified under the old rules before February 19. But the BAA never made any promises that those times would be good enough for 2012; people had made assumptions based on what had been done in previous years.

On a practical level for me, the new registration system and qualifying times mean that I will simply have to work harder and run faster in order to try to qualify for 2013 or later. I would need a qualifying time of 3:55, but I might actually need a faster time than that once registration takes place. This will be tough since I have only run three marathons and I have slowed down in each one, despite starting at a pace that was in theory reasonable based on my training and half-marathon pace. I will need more long training runs, more training runs at race pace, and more lactate threshold work in order to achieve this big goal. Is 3:55, or even 3:50 a reasonable marathon goal? I think so, but I can only see how well I progress as I work toward taking time off my half-marathon time first, and then train for the best possible marathon I can do.

I am still thinking about the option of obtaining a Boston Marathon spot with a fundraising organization, but I will think about this after I run my fall marathon.

But for the sake of this blog, the short answer to the question, "Who will get to run Boston?":

I will. Someday.

Race report: Birch Bay 15K, March 26 2011

2011-03-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I ran the Birch Bay Road Race in Birch Bay, WA (near Blaine, just across the border from here). This small race is only in its fifth year, and includes 5K, 15K, and 30K distances. I ran the 15K race with the hope of slightly bettering my time of 1:15:19 from my first attempt at this distance back in January. I was hoping for a time around or just under 75 minutes, or an average of 5:00/km. That pace seemed doable based on my recent running.

I started without a warmup and just tried to get into my pace really quickly. This was easy to do with a nice downhill start in the first kilometre, which reminded me of the Sun Run. The course was absolutely beautiful, along the water in Birch Bay for the first 6K. I had been averaging under 5:00/km and hit the 6K mark at 29:24. After that we started a steady climb away from the water for about 3K to the turnaround point for the 15K. The climb made it tough to hold on to the pace, I slowed down just a little bit but knowing I had build up a bit of a cushion. At this point I was pretty happy that I was doing 15K, as the 30K runners kept climbing steadily to their turnaround point (apparently this 30K race is even hillier in the second half than Around the Bay). Before I reached our turnaround point, I started seeing the 15K leaders coming back at me. I started counting the number of women that were ahead of me, and counted what I thought was about 20 women.

I was expecting this downhill part to feel really good after the steady 3K climb upwards, but instead it felt almost as tough. I then realized that the uphill was not as bad as it could have been since we had a tailwind -- of course I did not notice the tailwind as much as the headwind. So I just kept pushing on trying to maintain my pace. I hit the 10K mark at 49:29. I took a short break for water around 12K and then tried to pick it up a bit more down the rest of the hill. Kilometre 14 and the beginning of 15 were flat but the wind was still strong as we came along the water; I was running pretty much alone with two women just ahead of me. I tried to keep them in my sights and hold on to their pace, which worked really well to finish that tough part of the race.

I had been warned about the steep climb from the beach just before the finish, but man, this was brutal!! About 150 metres straight up, it seemed, and my legs were burning. But then around the bend it flattened out and I could see the finish area, and then the chute. I pushed on when I saw 1:14:xx on the clock and passed through at around 1:14:30 (official time was 1:14:28).

My time was good enough for 3rd out of 31 in the F40-44 age group. One of the women that I was chasing in kilometres 13 and 14 was in my age group, so I was also just behind number two by about 17 seconds. I will have to work a little harder for it next year. However, the next age group category is even more competitive--my time would have only been good enough for 7th in that next age group. I turn 45 in May, so I really better get working. :) I will definitely be back for this beautiful spring race.

Official results:

1:14:28 for 15K (4:58/km, 8:00/mile)
35/232 overall finishers
17/167 women
3/31 F40-44

Splits:

4:51 (downhill start)
4:52
4:56
4:54
4:55
5:05 (beginning of hill)
5:10
4:51
4:59 (downhill, but headwind!!)
4:55
4:56
5:07
5:01
4:57 (uphill but then a good finishing kick)

I am very happy with this result. Lately my running has taken a back seat to the other issues in my life and I have not been able to stick to a regular workout schedule. I had to miss the First Half half-marathon in February and have had to rearrange some other plans, so I decided to do this race only a week ago. I am happy that I have been able to maintain and even improve my speed with consistent although unstructured running. And although I did not feel like I was holding back on the course, I did feel like I could have gone a couple more kilometres at that pace and did not feel totally spent at the end. Maybe this is because of my inexperience at pacing this in-between distance, or simply having the discipline to keep the 5:00/km pace, or maybe because of my lack of speed-work lately. It does not really matter, though, because the next real goal is to hold that pace for another 6k in the half-marathon.

Vegan recipe of the week: White Bean, Spinach, and Barley Stew

2011-03-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

I made this last night and it was amazing. I found the recipe on line at Allrecipes.com but modified it a bit to my liking. So here it is:

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked pearl barley
3 cups water
2 small onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 vegetable bullion cube (natural, no MSG)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp dill
2 small or one yellow, orange, or red bell pepper
1 19-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 28-ounce can Italian-style Roma tomatoes, including liquid
2 cups fresh spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring the barley and water to a boil in a large pot. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes.
2. Add more water if needed, about 1 cup. Add onions, garlic, soy sauce, and spices right into the pot. Simmer for another 20 minutes.
3. Add pepper, beans, and tomatoes. Chop tomatoes in the pot, and stir; simmer another 15-20 minutes. Add more water if needed.
4. Add spinach and salt and pepper. Continue cooking 10 minutes, or until spinach is wilted.

Makes about six 2-cup servings.

Day 30

2011-03-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe it has been 30 days since my mom's stroke. I am happy to say that not only has she made it to this important milestone, but that she is also showing amazing progress toward recovery. There have been ups and downs, but the past couple days she has made some great strides. She is recognizing us more, seems to understand lot of what we are saying, and communicating to us through smiles, facial expressions, and small movements. Our hope and patience has been well worth it. She will soon be moving to a rehab centre in Massachusetts and will start working toward what we hope will be full recovery. She still has a long road ahead to recover her physical and mental strength, but there is no sign of permanent damage now. She will be surrounded by family and friends as she goes through the rehab process. I am planning periodic trips to Massachusetts to see her during this time, and to be near my sister and dad.

The thoughts and prayers from family and friends over the past weeks have given us that extra strength we needed to make it through this difficult first month. I am so happy that we can now look forward with even more hope and strength. I have had to be away a lot from my family in Canada and I thank them for their endless support. While in Florida I been able to reconnect with my aunt and her family in Florida, a wonderful blessing that came out of this difficult time. As I left Florida yesterday, I told them that I will not wait for another family illness to return.

And through it all I have kept up my running. Running has helped to keep me mentally and physically strong, and I know mom will be happy to know that I was able to run almost every day while in Florida. And I am still hopeful that she and my dad will be able to come with me to New York as planned in November when I will be running the marathon. Either way, that marathon will be for her.

A change of course

2011-02-24T16:02:00.000-08:00

I have been absent from blogging for the past couple weeks, as my life has taken a major change in course.

On Tuesday February 8, my mother suffered a massive stroke. She is only 68 and had no risk factors, so this is a bit of a surprise (this type of stroke-- a subarachnoid hemorrhage--generally does not correlate with heart disease risk factors). She was lucky enough to get medical attention quickly; she had some life-saving procedures and is now in the neuro-ICU of a large hospital, receiving excellent medical care. Her doctors assure us that she is following a pretty standard course of recovery, which is good. She is sometimes but not always responsive to their stimuli and sometimes following commands. The doctors and nurses assure us that many people go through these ups and downs before recovery. We do not know how much recovery there will be, but the chances are very good for at least partial recovery. They tell us that now its critical that she make it to day 21 (we are now at day 17) with no major complications; after that, somewhere between day 30 and 60 we will likely have a better idea of what we are dealing with. So we wait, and keep going up to visit her every day, because they tell us that helping her keep connected to he "outside world" helps her to recover. We do not know if she can always hear us, but she sometimes can. Hearing is usually the last thing to go when people can't do things like move and blink (temporarily).

My parents winter in Florida, which is where this all happened. Their permanent home is in Massachusetts where my sister also lives; I live pretty far away from both in Vancouver, Canada. So my sister and I, with the help of several close friends, are flying back and forth to Florida to be there for my mother and help my father. My father relies on my mother for much of his daily routine and care, so we need to make sure his needs are met as well.

This is by far the most challenging situation I have ever been dealt. But we take what we are given and we move forward.

It will not come as a surprise that my running goals for the spring are now on hold. I am still running regularly, almost daily, although I am not following a regular training schedule. I can often enjoy runs of up to an hour, sometimes more when I am back home in between visits. But running is more for stress relief now, without the pressure to get faster or hit certain paces.

While I am enjoying running without pressure, I also realize how my past running and racing has helped me face this personal challenge. The mental strength I have gained from learning how to push through tough races and training runs has helped me realize I am capable of more than I sometimes think. It is time to use that strength of character to help me meet the challenges of taking care of my mother, my father, myself, and my own family during this difficult time. I will race again when I am ready. And my mother knows how important running is for me, and she would not want it any other way.

I am continuing to log on DailyMile, but will not be updating as regularly here. I will be posting more intermittently here as thoughts come up that relate to my running.

Thanks for reading.

Vegan recipe of the week: Easy black bean enchiladas

2011-02-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

Last night I made my version of the black bean enchiladas. This is my very easy weekday simple version.

Easy Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:
vegetable oil
one onion, diced
one large yam (orange sweet potato), diced in small pieces
(you could also add corn here if you want)
one can of black beans, drained
one half-package of firm tofu, diced
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
six soft tortillas

Directions:
Saute onions for about 5 minutes. Add yams and continue to saute for another 10 minutes. Add corn, beans, tofu and spices and saute for another 10 minutes.

Add filling to tortillas, and wrap and fold. Place in a vegetable oil coated baking pan, and bake uncovered for about 20 minutes until tortillas get browned.

For the non-vegans in my family , I add some sliced cheddar cheese inside the tortilla and some shredded cheese on top. I love mine without cheese, but you could use a vegan cheese here if you want.

Top with salsa (I use Newman's Own).

Training Summary: Week 4 (January 24 - January 30)

2011-02-05T07:02:00.001-08:00

Monday: 5.2K easy on treadmill, 30 min
Tuesday: 11K easy with Mike downtown, 1:05
Wednesday: 10K with about 7-8K hard, untimed
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 8.5K with Mike downtown, 49 min
Saturday: 8K on the treadmill in 46 minutes; later: 2.3K with my son in 15 min
Sunday: 20.25K in 2:00:00 (5:55/km). Gorgeous run.

Total: 65K

Vegan recipe of the week: Red Lentil Curry

2011-01-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

Recently I decided to give up most meat foods (other than the occasional local salmon), and I am exploring the benefits of a vegan diet. I know several other athletes and runners that have seen improvements in their health and running after switching to a vegan diet. I will not fully give up dairy and eggs, but I want to rely on them less as the protein source of my meals. Hence, I am making a move toward a mostly vegan diet.

As I try more vegan recipes and learn more about vegan eating, I will share my recipes and insights here.

This Indian recipe adapted from the new "Vij's at Home" cookbook.

My version is actually a lot simpler and quicker. I would like to make the full version at some point, but my whole family actually like this one.

Red Lentil Curry (serve over rice)

Ingredients
2 cups finely chopped onion (one large or two small)
vegetable oil
5 cups water
1 3/4 cup dried red (orange) lentils
1 28-ounce can Roma tomatoes with water
1 Tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar (optional, depends on how sour your tamarind paste is)
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp masala spice mix or to taste

Directions:
Saute onion in a medium-to-large pot in hot oil for about 5 minutes. Add water and lentils and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and cook partially covered for about 20 minutes or until soft, adding a bit more water if needed. Add can of tomatoes with water, mashing into smaller pieces in the pot, and stir completely. Add tamarind paste, cumin, tumeric, and sugar (if desired). Add peas. Allow to simmer for another 10 minutes or so. At this point or earlier you can add the masala spice, although I leave it out add on the table because my daughter doesn't like things too spicy. It will have a very mild flavour without it, but maybe a bit too mild for most. You shouldn't need extra salt because the tomatoes are salted.
Serve over rice and enjoy!

Training Summary Week 3 (January 17-23)

2011-01-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

Monday: 7K easy, 39 min
Tuesday: 10K along the Richmond Dyke trail, wind-assisted negative split :) 56 min
Wednesday: 10.3K with Mike downtown, 59 min
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Intervals on treadmill: 7 x 800m in 3:34 average, 3:30 rest between. 11K total.
Saturday: 14K easy, 1:24 (6:00/km)
Sunday: 23K in 2:21 (6:09/km) partly with the Running Room group. Nice run. Another 2.3K with my son in the afternoon.

Total: 77K

Training Summary: Week 2 (January 10 - January 16)

2011-01-21T17:24:00.001-08:00

Monday: 6.3K easy recovery run, 38 min (6:00/km)
Tuesday: 3K warmup, 2 x 3K at tempo with 3 min rest between, 3K cooldown. Tempo sets were 14:30 each (4:50/km). Great run. 12.5K total.
Wednesday: Slush on the roads meant a 7 mile (11.2K) treadmill run in the morning (65 minutes or 5:47/km)
Thursday: Skiing and rest
Friday: 13K on the dyke trail again, this time easy with a fast finish (1:13 total)
Saturday: 4K easy, pre-race rest
Sunday: 15K race in 1:15:19; full report soon! (1K warmup before)

Total: 63K

Race Report: Chilly Chase 15K in Langley, January 16, 2011

2011-01-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things just work out they way you want them to. Or at least pretty close.

Short story: Yesterday I ran the Chilly Chase 15K in Langley, BC. My time was 1:15:19, for a pace of 5:01/km. Just a hair over my goal of a sub 1:15 finish, but I am still very happy.

Long story:
The start of the race was not great. Or should I say non-start: some organizational problems delayed the 9:00 start by about 20 minutes. I was not prepared to stand out in the weather for that long, and by the time we actually were able to go, my legs body was freezing and my legs were shaking. When the gun finally did go off, I managed to get moving pretty quickly (although had probably lost all the benefit of my short warm-up by then). My goal was to hold as close as possible to a 5:00/km pace for a sub-1:15 finish time. I thought my friend Rob would be running about the same pace, but he he got a better start than I did and I just let him go.

I hit the first three kilometre splits in just over 5:00/km, but I knew I had time to make up the deficit. There was a bit of a hill at kilometres 2-3 which also slowed us a bit. For kilometres 4-6 I actually sped up to under 5:00/km, hitting close to 4:45 on a couple of them. I worried that this was too fast, but the pace felt good-- and later I realized that I was helped by the downhill and a bit of a tail wind. Although the pace felt good, I have to say it felt pretty hard the whole time. I never really felt like I got into a smooth groove, but I somehow was able to hold on. Around the 6th or 7th kilometre I saw Rob up ahead by about a minute. I was glad I was not catching up to him, though, because I was afraid that I would try to keep his pace and run too fast. Oddly enough on this course I did not pass that many people and was not passed by many either. But it was a pretty small race and we covered most of the first 10K with the 10K racers; it was hard to tell exactly who I was running against.

By the time I hit half-way I already felt like I was fatigued; it was so hard to hold on. But my heart rate wasn't too high, and my body could do it-- I just had to convince my brain. I kept a pretty steady pace although was worried that I would slow down- and I did just a bit after kilometre 10. So maybe I did start too fast, and I almost let my race go at that point. My mind was playing tricks on me: “You're not going to get under 1:15, but anything under 1:17 would be respectable...” Then I thought-- NO! Just keep going as fast as you can, don't slow down on purpose. Hold on, this pace is hard, but it is doable. Just like the end of a hard tempo.

I actually had something in the tank left as I turned the last corner and saw the finish line. I am not sure where that extra kick comes from, but it was there. I crossed the line at about 1:15:30 on the clock, which would be a 1:15:19 chip time. That was good enough for 5th out of about 20 in my F40-49 age group.

I am very happy with this race, especially because it shows I can push hard even when things start to become really rough. I might have had a slightly better time if I could have managed a negative split, but it was still a very strong effort for the day. So I did not run my best race, but it was definitely a good race-- and a great first race of the year. Thanks for reading, and thanks for all of the supportive comments yesterday.

Here are the splits from my Garmin for the numbers junkies; more data can also be found on my itsmyrun entry (Laps and Elevation):

1 5:07 (cold start!)
2 5:12 (bit of a hill)
3 5:01
4 4:49 (downhill, and tail wind)
5 4:47
6 4:52
7 4:57
8 4:58
9 5:01
10 5:08
11 5:15 (bit back uphill, and headwind! and fatigue)
12 5:18
13 5:06
14 5:04
15 5:01

(the course actually measured a bit short, 14.95K, but I'll take it. :) The splits above are by pace.)

Nutrition taken too far

2011-01-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

You know it's a slow news day in Vancouver when the article on the front page is headlined: "Vancouver wants nutrition standards for street food carts". My first response when I saw this was, "Huh?" The article describes how those applying for new licenses for downtown food carts must show that their offerings are nutritious. Want to serve deep-fried food? Better have that with a side of fresh veggies.

Now this is a city that until recently only allowed street vendors to sell one kind of food: hot dogs. In addition to the Mr. Tubesteak carts and others like it, some companies got creative with condiments and side dishes. Hence, the creation of the hugely successful Japa Dog food carts that serve hot dogs with spicy Japanese add-ons. Still-- hot dogs are hardly a nutritional staple.

I don't know about you but I do not expect street food to be particularly healthy. I expect it to be greasy, salty, and maybe even taste good. Monitoring the nutritional standards of street vendors' food takes things a bit too far, in my opinion. A friend of mine called it "nanny state run amok." Either way, I think there's a place for good nutrition, and street food is not it.

Training Summary: Week 1 (January 3 - January 9)

2011-01-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

Monday: 5.5K easy, 33 min
Tuesday: progression tempo: 1.5K easy, 2.5K @ 5:25/km, 6.5K @ 5:05/km (11.5K total)
Wednesday: 11.25K in 1:07 in the cold rain
Thursday: Speed work on the treadmill (6 x 800m in 3:32 average, 3:30 rest between) 10.5K total
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 12.25K easy, 1:13 (5:50/km)
Sunday: 20K easy, 1:55 (5:45/km)

Total 71K

Yesterday's run was great. I met up with a friend at the Running Room and we ran with the marathon group for the first 12K. This friend and I used to run together quite often but our weekly schedules these days do not overlap very well for running; she has joined a Running Room clinic for this winter/spring, so the only way we will be able to run together is to go with that group. I was reluctant at first because I did not want to go back to 10-and-1 walk breaks, but it actually went really well. We ran with the 3:45 pace group whose target pace is 5:45-6:15/km average, but we were on the fast side of that. During the run portions we averaged about 5:25-5:30/km, and I stayed in my aerobic zone the whole time. The average pace of 5:45/km is about where my long run pace has settle into these days anyway, but it didn't seem to be much different with the walk breaks.

I am also glad to have broken 70K for the week. The season is looking great already.

Training Summary: Week 0 (December 27- January 2)

2011-01-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

New for this year, I will post training summaries by the week. As the week progresses, I will update the list on the right. I will then archive the weeks in the tab above for easy reference.

Since I am not counting down to any single goal race, I will simply count up the weeks from this one. I will call this week "Week 0" of 2011 because it only includes one run from the new year and the rest from 2010.

Monday: 16.5K in 1:32: 4K@6:00/km, 5K@5:25/km, 1K easy, 5K@5:15/km, 1.5K easy
Tuesday: 10K easy in 58 min (5:50/km)
Wednesday: 5K, very easy recovery run (6:40/km)
Thursday: 2K easy, 6 x 800m (3:36 average)
Friday: 5K easy, 6:30/km
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Awesome run with a friend (first 4K alone): 18.6K total in 1:48 (5:49/km). I'm loving the quicker pace of my long runs now. It's coming naturally with no extra effort. After the first 4K on my own at about 6:00/km we did about 13K at 5:36/km average, and then a slower couple kilometres up the hill. Finally the training effect kicking in.

Total: 66K

Looking back, looking forward: 2010 in Review

2010-12-31T07:32:00.000-08:00

There is something about changing the date on the calendar that makes us all want to look back at our mistakes and successes of the past twelve months. So briefly here are some reflections on this past year of my running life.

Looking back just a bit further, 2009 was a pretty bad year for me running-wise. I got injured in the spring and missed all my favorite races. In the fall of 2009 I struggled to get back my lost fitness; I was just barely turning the corner by December. The year did end on a good note though. My last run was on an early, cold morning in Toronto, with someone I did not know well at the time but would later become a good friend and my new coach.

In January through April of 2010 I continued to rebuild and regain my running fitness. In May I had a great comeback race at the BMO Half-marathon in early May. Things continued to improve as I ran a strong 10k race in June (and won a bet!), and then went on to race a PB half-marathon at the end of the month (Scotiabank Half-marathon, 1:49:28).

In July and August I focused on marathon training towards my third marathon: the Goodlife Victoria Marathon on 10-10-10. Although I did not achieve my goal of a sub-4:00 time, I thoroughly enjoyed the training and the race. I was able to carry thorough the fitness gains to some strong fall races, including a PB time at the Haney to Harrison relay and another sub-1:50 Half.

This year I will have run over 3100K, easily my best year of running since I started seven years ago. This is the first year I have been able to run consistently without injury through the entire year. I look forward to continuing to build on this success with some new goals for 2011. The ultimate objective will be consistent running and continuing to find joy and satisfaction in it all.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Running in Paradise

2010-12-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Holly often talks about "running in paradise," referring to the great running weather and terrain we have here in Vancouver and the surrounding areas. While the Vancouver area does have a great variety of running terrain and almost always temperate weather, I have to say that I have just finished visiting a place much closer to paradise for running: Hawaii.

We recently returned from a 12-day trip where we visited parts of two of the Hawaiian islands: Oahu and the “big island” of Hawaii. While I was there I was able to run every day of the trip, totaling 112K in runs varying from seven to 18K. Of course, we were there to do a lot more than running, but being able to run every morning set the tone of my vacation and allowed me to enjoy it that much more.

For the first part of our trip, we spent five days and nights in Honolulu while my husband had a conference. We stayed on Waikiki beach, one of the oldest vacation spots in the Hawaii and a less popular destination for many North Americans seeking the ideal tropical vacation on endless sandy beaches. There are some beautiful old hotels, lots of night-life and restaurants, and some small but nice beaches that never seem to get too crowded. I loved running along the road by the beach as well as the loop around Diamond Head mountain just to the south.

Our hotel had a nice coffee shop which opened at 6:00 am, so my normal routine became going down for a pre-run coffee and running by about 7:00 when the sun was up. I found the temperature comfortable but the air very thick with humidity. Still, the warm air and pleasant, casual surroundings made for some beautiful runs.

The next leg of our trip took us on a plane to Kona on the "big island" of Hawaii. The big island is the youngest part of Hawaii still with active volcanic activity. Kona is a beautiful, small city on the west side of the big island with beautiful beaches for both snorkeling, body-surfing, and sunbathing. We stayed on Alii drive in the heart of Kona, and also part of the Kona Ironman run course. Every day I ran up and down this beautiful street along the shoreline, including one run totaling 18K (11 miles).

From Kona we made our way across to the east side of the island to Hilo, the second-largest city in Hawaii. That side of the island has a wetter climate with the drier winds from the volcano usually going west; our hotel was surrounded by large banyan trees and other vegetation giving it a tropical-jungle feel.

Still, the runs along the water were gorgeous, out and back through park-land that cannot be developed in the future due to low-lying tsunami vulnerability. We visited the Pacific Tsunami Museum while we were there and learned about the destructive power of this large waves.

From Hilo we also visited nearby Hawaii Volcanos National Park. Before the trip I had this idea that I was going to run the Rim Trail in the park, which goes around the Kilauea crater, the volcanically active part of Mauna Loa (the biggest volcano in Hawaii). The Rim Trail is 18K or 11 miles long, including a part on the road that loops back to the start. It turns our that about half that loop is closes anyway since the volcano is quite active now and creating poor air quality due to sulphur dioxide emissions.

Instead we did a family hike on a trail that goes down into a smaller inactive crater. The hike was four miles round trip down into the crater and then back out, giving us some breathtaking views of this area.

On our last day in Hawaii we made our way back to Kona and the beaches for one last sunset before heading to the airport.

More photos from the trip can be found in this album.

Who will get to run Boston, Part 2

2010-12-27T15:02:00.000-08:00

On December 18, the Boston Globe published an article discussing possible changes to Boston Marathon qualifying times and the registration process. Another article the next day addressed the issues from an historic and contextual perspective.

According to the first article, is likely that the BAA will make an announcement in January for changes that would take effect for the 2012 Boston Marathon. It is expected that some or all of the qualifying times will be adjusted to slightly faster times. However, the BAA has indicated that they "will honor qualifying times run in what has been the traditional window, which opens in mid-September." I assume this means that people who ran what they thought were qualifying times this fall will be able to use those times, even as the new times come into effect for those racing after the announcement is made.

Of course there will be some disappointed people, including those training now for winter or early spring races with target times based on old qualifying times. But there will also be disappointed people if they do not change the times, just as there were on October 18 this year. Personally I know that I have likely lost my chance to qualify with a 4:00 time for the F45-49 age group, but that is OK. It mike take me a bit longer to get there, but I still will.

Catching up

2010-12-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

I have been delinquent in blogging but plan to catch up and make up for it in the new year. I just came back from a 2-week vacation in Hawaii, where I was able to run in the hot sunshine every day. I plan to write a running/vacation report of those two weeks and post it here in the next couple days. Also watch for a 2010 recap/hopes for 2011 post. Stay tuned. :)

Racing plans for 2011

2010-11-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

As 2010 starts to wind down, I am thinking about my racing plans for next year. So far here is what I have planned:

January: I would like to do at least one race in January, but I am not sure which one. I am thinking about the Chilly Chase 15K in Langley on January 16. A 15K race would be a good speed test and preview to my February half-marathon, but I have been warned about varying road conditions and weather. This race has a strong following and will fill up quickly as the end of the year approaches. If I do not do that one I will think about the Steveston Ice-Breaker 8K on January 30.

Feburary: "First Half" Half-marathon on February 13. This one is a definite (it sold out quickly when registration opened). I am looking forward to doing this race again. I have run in this race four times, all under different circumstances with varying results. In 2006 I did it as a training race as part of my Vancouver Marathon training; I was aiming for a marathon-paced time of two hours and finished in 1:56. In 2007 I raced it as an "early season fitness indicator", and got a time of 1:51:17. That time would stand as my PB in the half-marathon until June of this year. In 2008 I was returning to running after a difficult fall (various health issues), and managed a decent time of 1:52. In 2009 I had planned to race it again, but had a work-related back injury that forced me to do it as a slower training run (2:04 finish). In 2010 the race was canceled for the Olympics, so many of us are eager to race it again. I will be hoping to shave a few minutes off my PB time, but I will have a better idea of my goal as the date gets closer.

March: Often in March I like to do the Dave Reed Spring Classic 5K, but we will be away that weekend next year. So instead I will do the St. Patrick's Day 5K on March 12. I may also do Harry's Spring Run-Off 8K on March 20.

April: I will definitely run the Vancouver Sun Run 10K on April 17, although I am not sure if I will be racing this or running it with my kids. This is one of my favorite races-- I love the excitement and buzz and the huge-race feel. It attracts local and international elites, recreational walkers, and just about everyone in between. At over 50,000 runners, the Vancouver Sun Run is by far the biggest road race in Canada and one of the biggest in North America. The years I have raced this I have always gotten my best 10K times, and my time from 2007 still stands as my 10K PB (47:00). This year the race was moved to Mother's Day, and I enjoyed the morning running/walking with my kids to a 1:25 finish. With the wave start, we did not even cross the start line until about 10:30 am, or about a half-hour after I would have FINISHED had I run the race on my own. So I am not sure how I will experience this race next year; while I would like to race it on my own, I will have to see what we decide to do as a family.

May: I will definitely be participating in the BMO Vancouver Marathon, although I am not sure what distance. More on this marathon decision in a later post. There are some shorter distance races I may also consider for May.

June: I am tentatively planning on doing the Sandcastle City Classic 10K again on June 12, as well as the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon on June 26. There is also a new half-marathon in Whistler on June 4 that I have my eyes on; I doubt it will be a flat easy course, but it may make for an enjoyable weekend away and fun racing. My June racing will partly depend on whether or not I do the marathon in May.

Several of the above races are part of two of the local race series: The Lower Mainland Road Race Series and the Timex BC Road Running Series. These series award points for the top twenty finishers in each 5-year age group category, and at the end of the year prizes are given to the top points-earners. Therefore, these races tend to bring out many of the top runners in the area as well as the motivated recreational racers. In order to qualify for prizes, you must finish at least five races in a series; I would like to do few more of the 5k and 10K races in order to qualify. There are some great 10K races that I missed last summer that I would love to do this year, like Summerfast in July and the Richmond Oval 10K in August.

I will think more about the rest of the year as it unfolds, but there is one fall race for which I have already registered: The New York Marathon on November 6. I have a guaranteed entry to this race after being denied in the lottery three years in a row. I am really looking forward to this race as both an exciting international event as well as a training goal. More on this in the months to come.

Fall Classic Half-Marathon, November 21

2010-11-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

One last race to finish off the year: Yesterday I continued my plan of trying to capitalize on marathon-training fitness, and I ran the Fall Classic Half-Marathon at UBC. I have not done a lot of volume or long runs since the marathon, and nothing over 18K. However, I have done some strong key workouts and had a great result at Haney to Harrison two weeks ago, so I thought I would see what I had for a hard effort in the half-marathon.

My rough race plan was to try for about 41 minutes for each of the first 8K, and then try for under 26 minutes for the last 5.1K. The start was fast as I realized we were going slightly but steadily downhill. But what goes down must come back up--just slightly but enough to make a difference, especially on the second loop of this double-looped course. I did hit the 8K marker at almost exactly 41 minutes, and 16K at 1:22:12 so I knew I was on track, but I didn't have the kick in the last 5.1K I needed to keep up the hard effort, especially as we climbed ever so gradually. Still, I was able to pick it up a bit in the last kilometre or so, and finished at 1:49:30 on my watch (so about 27:18 for the last 5.1K). That was within seconds of my PB at the Scotiabank Half in June. I was anxious to see the official time to see whether I had pulled off a PB, but somehow the timing equipment failed and I had an official time of 1:48:09. That would be nice, but I know it isn't right-- several people seemed to have gotten messed up times.

I had been hoping for a minute or two faster, but I am still happy with this result. Considering how long it took me to break 1:50, I am happy that I could do it yesterday with a less-than-perfect race on a tougher course. It has become my new base-line time . A lot of people have mentioned the conditions-- colder than we are used to (about zero at the start), some icy patches-- but overall the conditions were not a huge factor for me. I did have one annoying shoelace-tie stop, but that alone wouldn't have slowed me too much (it was in the first 8K); it was the pace slow-down in the last 5K that hurt me the most, and that was nothing but fatigue (I think because of my lower training volume).

Overall it was a great way to end the year. I have nowhere to go but up from here. 2011, here I come. :)

Haney to Harrison Relay, November 6, 2010

2010-11-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

A group of us have participated in the Haney to Harrison (H2H) Road Race each year from 2005 until this year. This 100K run starts in Haney (part of Maple Ridge) and winds its way to Harrison Hot Springs. There are ultra-marathoners who run the whole 100K; we participate in the very popular 8-staged relay event. Sadly, this was the event's last year, but a new event is set to take its place in Whistler next year. In the meantime we were determined to make this year our best ever, and we didn't fail. We have shuffled around runners and added and lost people over the years, but there have been a few of us at the core of our group:

Team name: Take the Rains

The players:

Steve (a good friend of mine, our fearless leader and Stage 2 runner this year)
Heather (Steve's wife, Stage 3 runner)
Marcia (injured this year, team support person, photographer, cheerleader)
Steph (new runner this year, friend and neighbour of Steve and Heather's, Stage 1 runner)
Mike (another good friend and my almost-weekly running partner, Stage 7 runner)
Cindy (partner to Marcia and our team volunteer- her role is exchange captain at exchange 4)
Julianne (Cindy's niece, has been running with the group for three years, Stage 5 runner)
Rob (a new running friend of mine and new member of the team, Stage 4 runner)
Jennifer (Me, Stage 6 runner. I've done this same stage each year.)

Since Rob, Mike, and I were running later stages, we planned to meet up with the group at exchange 3 before Rob's run start. Mike and Rob picked me up at the Skytrain in Surrey at about 7:30 am, and we made our way through Maple Ridge and Mission to try to watch some of the early running. Our team start time was at 6:00 am, and we found out that Steph, our Stage 1 runner, had had some problems on her run. She had knee pain (ITBand) and was forced to slow down to a run/walk hobble by then end, but she did finish her stage and handed off to Steve. Soon after she went home ice and baby her knee, so we didn't see her for the rest of the day.

Stage 1: Steph, 9.57K, 1:07:59, 7:07/km

We tried to spot Steve on the road, but he was too quick for us and had already handed off to Heather by the time we drove through exchange 2. He finished with an impressive time given his limited running since Victoria Half-marathon.

Stage 2: Steve, 13.51K, 1:13:17, 5:26/km

Driving from Maple Ridge to Mission near the Stave Dam we did manage to see Heather on her run. She was climbing one of the challenging hills, and well on her way to a very impressive finish. This is the best she's done in this relay, following a string of PB races in her first year post-baby #2. Great work, Heather.

As we were looking to spot Heather coming into exchange 3, we saw another runner with bunny ears. Steve said, “She's not too far behind the bunny.” We kept watching and soon she came in, looking strong, and handed off to Rob.

Stage 3: Heather, 15.12K, 1:21:45, 5:25/km

Steve took Heather home and we would meet up with him later at exchange 5 before my run. He also planned to bring Patty, another friend and neighbour of theirs, who was to run Stage 8. Meantime, Mike, Marcia, and I then drove on toward exchange 4 where we would meet up with Julianne and see Cindy, exchange 4 captain and our team volunteer. While driving along Stage 4 to the exchange, we did manage to see Rob a few times and stop and take pictures. [Marcia has those pictures so I hope I can get one up here later.] Rob had never met Julianne before, so I told him to look for someone “very blonde” (we didn't know what she was wearing). Thankfully, exchange 4 went without a hitch as we spotted Rob coming down the small hill and alerted Julianne. She was off.

Stage 4: Rob, 14.42K, 1:12:02, 5:00/km

I was a bit nervous about getting to exchange 5 with enough time to warm up and get changed, so we started driving soon after Julianne left. We got there in plenty of time and Steve met us there just as I was starting my warmup. As I was warming up, it occurred to me that Steve was alone-- where was Patty? Well, Patty was sick at home with a bad migraine and couldn't run. While I was warming up, Mike, Steve, Rob, and Marcia were discussing who would run Stage 8 (a very flat run of about 8K). Heather wasn't feeling up to doing another run and she was home with the kids; Steph was obviously out, and Julianne was also making her way home as she needed to go to work. Rob's calf had seized up badly at the end of his run; he was OK after some icing and stretching, but not willing to risk another run on it. Mike could do it, but wasn't sure he was really up for back-to-back runs totaling about 21K. In theory, I would have been the best choice, since I'm not too far from marathon mileage, but they didn't want to suggest this to me and possibly force me to run slower than I wanted to in Stage 6. That left Steve, who thought he'd be up for the task, but we decided to wait till I finished running to confirm. They encouraged me to run Stage 6 as fast as I could, and if necessary I could jog the 8K afterward. That turned out not to be necessary (Thank you Steve!), and I'm glad I didn't even consider holding back on my run.

Julianne came in looking strong but a bit earlier than we expected, so I wasn't quite ready. I quickly went to the exchange mat, getting my Garmin and iPod ready. I had a great playlist prepared and I didn't want it to go to waste!

Stage 5: Julianne, 13.12K, 1:13:22, 5:36/km

My run went about as perfectly as I could have expected. My goal was to be as close as possible to 5:00/km; in earlier years my best pace was closer to about 5:15/km on this slightly hilly route. I locked into a pace of about 5:00/km early on and stuck with it. It felt TOUGH as early as 3-4K, but I just kept telling myself to hold on. I didn't let my heart rate freak me out, even as it crept up near and over my lactate threshold pretty early. The hills slowed me down a bit, but the downhills seemed to go on forever. Even though this route does have a slight net elevation gain, it somehow felt like I was going down more than up. I liked that. I was passing lots of people, including the bunny-eared team member. About a third of the way in I caught up with guy wearing a yellow-singlet, and stuck behind him for a while. I passed him at one point, and then he passed me-- this would happen back and forth about three times before I finally passed him for good.

I remember mentally breaking up the run into 2K chunks, telling myself, “OK, just get to 6K, 8K, 10K...” Each 2K bit would take about 10 minutes, and after 10K I knew I just had to stay on cruise control. Don't get me wrong-- it was TOUGH, but I remembered, “This is a race--- not too much longer to hold on.” When I saw the exchange tent I just kept pushing, and then handed off to Mike. “Have a good run!!” I was THRILLED to see my time of just under 1:06, or 1:05:54 to be exact. 13K at 5:00/km is exactly 65 minutes, but this run was just over 13K (13.08K by course measurement) which gave me a pace of 5:03/km. I'll take it, and then some. :) That's almost three minutes faster than my previous best time on this course. Here's a link to the data in case anyone is interested:

Stage 6: Jennifer, 13.08K, 1:05:54, 5:03/km

Rob and I quickly got back to Mike's car, and Steve and Marcia drove Steve's van up ahead. We decided to stop along Stage 7 to try to take pictures of Mike running and discuss the plan for Stage 8. We passed Mike, stopped somewhere about half-way, and then decided that Steve would be our double-duty runner. I was relieved. :)

Mike's run had a huge hill up and a long hill down, and he really rocked it. He finished with an impressive time given he's taken some downtime from regular training and is now getting back into regular running. Soon he'll be wanting to run too fast for me on our weekly runs. :)

Stage 7: Mike, 13.47K, 1:09:45, 5:11/km

Mike came in to exchange 7 and handed off to Steve, who would run Stage 8 at a pretty quick clip considering his lack of training and running on supposedly tired legs. :) We drove along to the finish area hoping not to miss him. Marcia managed to get a picture of him coming under the finish-time clock and approaching the timing mat. That time would be our best in all the years we've done this as a group. Not bad considering we are not fast-stacked and we had some injury issues along the way.

Stage 8: Steve, 7.87K, 40:18, 5:08/km

Total: 9:04:22

I will definitely be sad to let this race go. I had a great time running with everyone and spending the day together. This report doesn't even mention many of the funny and fun things we encountered along the way (I figured it was long enough ;) ). I hope our group can stay together for future versions of this race. Thank you all for such a great experience.

I'm having trouble uploading the pictures to this blogpost, but you can see them in this Facebook album.

I love short races!

2010-11-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

James Cunningham Seawall 9.5K Race

And I loved this race yesterday. I have never raced this one before, but it follows the same course as some other races and many runs I have done, around the seawall of Stanley Park. For historical reasons they keep the distance at 9.5K, and many runners seem to not like the idea that it's not an actual 10K race. Maybe that would have turned me off if I thought I was in PB shape, but I knew I wasn't, so I went out to just do my best and have a good time.

My goal was to hold about a 4:45-4:50/km pace which I thought was reasonable but challenging enough based on my recent training and fitness. The first kilometre was a bit slow in the crowd and it ended on a bit of an uphill, so I wasn't surprised to see 5:05 on my watch. But I felt great and hit my stride, and from then on was hitting the splits all between 4:45 and 4:50. It wasn't easy, though; even before 5K it was already feeling tough, so I just took it one kilometre at a time. I knew that once I passed around 6 or 7K, my body would continue if my mind didn't give up. Having a few helpful racers as pacers along the way as well a good knowledge of the course made the mental battle a bit easier. The best thing about a 9.5K race is that it's over earlier than a 10K race. I was actually able to pick up my pace just a it on the last half-kilometre, which gained me about 10 seconds. I crossed the finish line just over 46 minutes, which turned out to be a 45:58 chip time. That was good enough for 4th in my age group in a pretty speedy crowd (to get top 3 I would have needed a time of 42-something).

I am happy with this time; the pace equates to about a 48:20 10K, which is faster than I was able to do in June without the downhill help of that course. I have done very little speed work other than tempo pace throughout marathon training and since then, so I know I have a lot of room for improvement. I am looking forward to this Saturday when I race stage 6 of the Haney to Harrison relay. My best pace on this hilly 13K stretch has been about 5:15/km; I'm hoping I can get that down closer to 5:00/km this year.

The best thing about short races is that there is no wall when you know how to pace them properly. I guess that's the same for marathons, but I have done so few of them and haven't quite figured out the pacing yet. I haven't given up on the marathon yet, but I want continue to work on my speed before I tackle another one. I am already looking forward to the spring.

Who will get to run Boston?

2010-10-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the 2011 Boston Marathon opened for registration at 9:00 am and was closed in just over eight hours when the limit of 21,000 applicants was reached. It has never filled up this quickly-- even last year, which was the fastest ever sell-out up to that point, took about two months to fill up.

Boston is the only marathon in North America other than Olympic qualifying marathons that requires runners in general registration to meet qualifying standards. (There are also spots open for charity fund-raising groups, corporate sponsors, and some community-based entries.) Historically the qualifying times were simply about limiting the field, but they have come to mean more than that to people. Qualifying for Boston has become the benchmark of amateur marathon excellence for many people, and many work hard in running and training for a chance to run in this historic marathon. And with the prestige attached to the qualifying times themselves, more and more people have wanted to run it and more and more have qualified. Over the past years as interest in the race increased, the Boston Athletic Association (or BAA, the organization that puts on the Marathon) has opened the race to more runners by starting the race earlier, introducing a two-tiered start, and increasing registration numbers to what some people say is near-limit capacity.

Last year was surprising enough when the 2010 Boston Marathon filled in November 2009, just seven weeks after registration opened. In previous years it had not filled till January or February before the April race. When it filled last year in November, many people who had qualified were surprised and had not had a chance to register. Still others were hoping to qualify in late 2009 or early 2010 races. People who ran qualifying races after September 2009 were eligible to register for 2011., Therefore, a lot of these people were ready early when registration opened yesterday, as were those anxious runners who qualified in races later in 2010 (up to this past Sunday).

The very fast fill-up means that many runners who had hoped for a 2011 spot were shut out, either because they had trouble registering on-line (a computer glitch caused many problems for people early in the day), because they didn't actually believe it would fill up that fast, or because they haven't even run their qualifying race yet.

Although I was not able to register for 2011 (I would have needed a 3:50 marathon time, and my best so far is 4:06), I was keenly interested in watching how the day unfolded yesterday. Most people did expect the race to fill up quickly, yet it is still somewhat shocking how quick it really was. In the months leading into the registration date, there was already a lot of talk about how Boston would have to change the registration process in order to make it more fair for qualified runners.

As quoted in an article in the Boston Globe, Guy Morse, the BAA's executive director said yesterday: "The challenge for the BAA is to find the right mix of field size and qualifying times to allow as many as possible to run. I’m not convinced tightening up the qualifying times alone is the answer. I would like to find a way to allow more qualifiers to enter. That would speak to the field size question, but we don't want to increase the field and reduce the quality of the event in the process. In the way we’ve approached it and the way we’ve set it up, this event remains about quality, not quantity."

I believe that an adjustment of the qualifying standards is inevitable, and we will likely see this happening within the next year. Some people have guessed that when the BAA does adjust the standards, they will set the changes for a future marathon such that those already training for the existing times would not be short-changed. We really don't know what they will do, although I am personally prepared for the possibility that the qualifying time for the F45-49 age group will be harder than the 4:00:59 time I thought I needed for a 2012 entry. We shall see.

Moving forward

2010-10-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a week since the marathon; the disappointment is still there but not so heavy anymore. Although I did not achieve the goal I had worked so hard for, I did finish the training without injury and I feel stronger than ever now. I have thought about what went wrong in the training and in the race, and will be ready to make those changes next for time. I am not ready to commit to when I will try another marathon, but I am starting to think about what next year's racing will look like. But this year is not over yet, and I am looking forward to a few more events in the next couple months.

First: recovery. I have been feeling really good since the race, and think I might have actually gotten this recovery thing right for once. I have felt better this time than I did after my last two half-marathons this year, likely because my mileage leading into those was a lot lower. Last week I took Monday and Tuesday completely off, and was planning on going to the gym for an easy spin on Wednesday. But my legs just wanted to run. I met my friend Mike downtown for our usual Wednesday lunchtime run, and it was great. I did about 6.5K with him at an easy pace. The next day I went to the gym for an easy 3K on the treadmill, followed by lots of stretching and foam-roller work on the back of the legs. I took Friday off, and then went for an easy jog on Saturday on my normal neighborhood loop. It was pretty slow (6:45/km) and by the end my legs felt a bit dead. On Sunday I felt the zip back in my legs and ran at a quicker clip, 10K at about 5:45/km. And today I did 4 miles on the treadmill in 36 minutes, which translates to about 5:30/km.

Next up will be a few short races, as I hope to capitalize a bit on the fitness gains from marathon-training. I will probably do a 10K race on October 31 (well, it's actually 9.5K, but more on that later). On November 6 I will be participating in what has become an annual tradition since 2005: the Haney to Harrison 100K relay. We have a team for this 8-stage event, and my stage is about 13K. I have done the same stage each year, so the race itself has become a bit of a fitness benchmark for me; more importantly it always proves to be a really fun day.

Victoria Marathon Race Report 10-10-10

2010-10-12T12:34:00.001-07:00

I had a great race in Victoria on Sunday. It was not the sub-4:00 BQ that I was looking for, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am happy to have finished my third marathon. My time of 4:07:13 was within a minute of this same race in 2008 in what would turn out to be a very similar race experience for me.

How did it all happen? The first 30K proceeded as planned, with my split times pretty even throughout. I quickly settled into a nice and relaxed pace of 5:35-5:40/km, a pace that I hoped I would see as an average for the race. For most of first half of the marathon I felt great, maybe just a bit harder than a long training run. There were a few hills on the course, but nothing long enough to get me out of my desired heart rate zone for very long. I enjoyed the running, talking to a few people along the way that had similar goal times to mine, but ended up holding my own pace for most of it. At the half-way point I was still right on pace at 1:59:xx.

I did start to feel like the pace got harder after the half-way point, but I didn't worry too much; after all, it is supposed to feel tougher than a training run, right? But I wasn't sure. Would I be able to hold this? Just after the turnaround between 23 and 24K, I saw my friend Cheryl who was doing her first marathon. She looked strong and fluid, and I knew she was having a good race. She would pass me around 25K, just as I started to get some nasty calf-cramping. OW! I said out loud at one point? “Are you OK?” asked another runner. “Oh, I'm fine, I said. I'm just getting some calf-cramping.” “Change your pace,” he suggested. I tried to change it a bit, and that seemed to help, but I didn't want to fall off my 5:35-ish average on my watch. I kept thinking, just hold this as long as you can. “As long as I can” turned out to be about 35K, although I was already slowing a bit between 30 and 35K, hitting the splits at closer to 5:45-5:55 each time. My friend Rob passed me at one point and was looking great. He tried to pull me along mentally, but I was falling back in pace and energy.

By around the 37K mark I knew I was losing too much time that I would not be able to get back. The calf-cramping had subsided, but my body was not cooperating as I tried to regain my pace and stride. The wheels just simply fell off. It was the wall again, just as I had experienced it the last time on this course. It was very hard to keep pushing on at that point, but I did-- the course goes beautifully along the water here and there were still lots of spectators. One woman was cheering loudly and then said, "Wow, look at the smiles!" when I passed. Yes, I was still smiling- enjoying the experience, pain and all. I was enjoying participating in a great race and pushing my body to the limit, even if that limit had come earlier than I expected.

The last 5K brought us along a gorgeous stretch of waterfront and then right by our hotel along the point at around 40K. All I could manage was a painful run/walk shuffle, and I was jokingly thinking that it was a good thing I didn't have my hotel key card. In reality with less than a kilometre to go I knew I would jog it in over the finish line. My husband was there to cheer me in; my kids had missed me as they had walked back a bit, but saw me after the finishing chute. The clock said 4:08:04, and chip time was 4:07:13, so just a little slower than an almost identical race in 2008.

So the sub-4:00 Boston qualifier remains elusive, the goal is still there when I am ready to try this all again. I am not sure when that will be, but I will be planning and reassessing as I let my body recover in the next couple weeks. I will admit to some being somewhat disappointed, but not about the race itself; only that I overestimated my fitness improvement and misjudged how much more training I will need to break through the wall after the 30K mark.

Thanks again to everyone for their endless support and encouragement. There are too many of you to list here, but I was so impressed with the outpouring of comments here, on Facebook and elsewhere in the days before and after the race. Thanks especially to Pat, my coach and friend, and to my good friend Greg who has been with me on my journey since before my first marathon. I know you all will be with me as I continue to move forward.

Victoria Marathon- Brief Update

2010-10-10T16:36:00.001-07:00

Today I finished my third marathon in Victoria, BC. I was trying for a time of 4:00 for a BQ, but it was not to be; I finished in a time of 4:07, so just over the time of my second marathon. In short, I had some bad calf cramping issues starting at around 25k, but was still able to hold onto my pace till about 35k-- and then the wheels fell off.

I can't say I'm not disappointed, but I'm still very happy to have finished. Any day I can finish 42.2k is a good day. I really enjoyed the whole experience; I talked to some great people out there on the course, and learned a lot about myself.

I will write a full report and post it Tuesday. Thanks to all my good friends, family, and new on-line friends for your endless support and encouragement. I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me.

The "Inner Game" (from Chris Russell)

2010-10-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

One of the podcasts I enjoy is RunRunLive by Chris Russell. Chris is a great writer and runner, and often he is able to articulate my feelings about running better than I ever could.

This week Chris talked about the "inner game" in racing. I thought I would share some of his words here:

"I know lots of you have big events coming up. I’m not going to lecture on Taper-Madness or tell you what equipment to lay out the night before your race. As is my want, I am going to ask you to think about your inner game.

If you have made it this far you have done your training. Whether that training was good and sufficient is no longer important. You have what you have. The last couple weeks before an event, if you have trained well just relax; if you haven’t, it’s too late so relax.

There are no special foods, no special potions, no special clothes that are going to make any difference now. Just avoid any kind of cramming activity. Don’t swill fluids and eat pasta to excess. There is very little you can control there, but you can control your inner game.

Many of you first-timers and those of you who have trained these many long weeks will have a huge emotional investment in this event. I’m going to ask you to set that aside. I’m going to ask you to practice emotional detachment. You need to save your emotional energy for the race and not burn it all up in the taper.

Repeat after me:
'I have done my training. There is nothing else I can do to prepare for this race except relax my body and soul in preparation of a glorious effort.'
'I have prepared. I am committed to show up at the start and perform to the best of my ability on race day when the gun goes off. So, now I give myself permission to relax.'
'I will sleep deeply in the strength of my training feeling like a coiled spring. I am sanguine, calm, untroubled, comfortable, stress-free, unperturbed, peaceful, undisturbed and tranquil.'

Now go forth and own that race."

You can download the podcast (Episode 140) from iTunes. Read more about Chris's RunRunLive community and podcast on his website at www.runrunlive.com.

Race day is almost here

2010-10-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

There are only a few days till the Victoria Marathon on 10-10-10, and I am definitely ready. My training is done; only a few more short taper runs and I will be ready to go on Sunday. I am nervous and excited to do this and to see what race day brings me. I am not fretting about the weather or the conditions, and I am not even worried about my pace. I know I can do this.

My plan is to stick to the 5:30-5:35/km pace as closely as possible for my sub-4:00 goal time, which I know I can do for at least the first 30K as I did in my last marathon. If my training has worked, I will be able to keep going without hitting the wall. Simple, isn't it? Yes, but I am not so delusional to think the last 12K will be easy.

You can actually follow my splits in real time on the raceheadquarters.com website. This is a first for Victoria Marathon; they will be updating from timing mats on the course at the 10K, 21.1K, 30K, and finish line marks. My bib number is 2577 if you care to follow me. Or watch this space for a quick update and full race report later on.

Great day to be in Toronto

2010-09-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an exciting day to be in Toronto. At the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, the male and female winners ran the fastest marathons ever in Canada: Kenneth Mungara of Kenya finished first with a time of 2:07:58, beating the previous fastest marathon in Canada by 33 seconds. Sharon Cherop, also of Kenya, led the women with a time of 2:22:43 in a very close finish and beating the previous fastest time in Canada by over three minutes. In fact, the top seven women all beat the previous course record for this marathon. Full coverage of the marathon and half-marathon races can be found on the race website.

Reid Coolsaet had an awesome day with a time of 2:11:23, beating Athletics Canada's tough qualifying standard for the Olympics and the 2011 World Championships with just six seconds to spare. This does not automatically secure him a spot in the London 2012 Olympics, but he will be there as long as three other people do not beat his time. (That would be quite surprising, considering Canada sent no one to the Bejing Olympics for the marathon.) He wrote a very descriptive and inspiring race report in his blog. Eric Gillis of Canada came in just one place behind Coolsaet with a time of 2:12:08.

I also have many running friends who had great races in Toronto yesterday in the marathon, half-marathon, and 5k distances. Congratulations to all of you. The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is one of the country's best, and I hope to be able to participate some day.

The Taper

2010-09-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

Tapering is as much of an art as a science, it is said. Once you have reached the peak in your training, about 2-4 weeks before the marathon, you lower training volume to allow your body to fully absorb the training. In theory, taper brings you to the race optimally trained, rested, and ready to have your best race possible. Since this is only my third marathon, it is hard to know how much tapering is optimal for my training style. I have a feeling I tapered too much in my first marathon training back in 2006; in my second I suffered an injury right at the peak of mileage and had to take almost a week off running with only three weeks to go before the marathon. Although I hate to use this expression, I feel like this time around I am the prototypical "experiment of one."

I did my longest training run of 36K on Thursday, September 16, or three and a half weeks before the marathon. That week was my biggest training week at 89K, but this week won't be much less. On Wednesday this week I did a very strong 30K run with the last 5K at or faster than race pace. My coach really liked that run, coming so soon after a hard effort in the Terry Run last Sunday. On Sunday this weekend I will do a 21-22K run where most is at race pace, which will make this week another pretty high week at over 80K. Then the real taper will begin.

In the last two weeks I will do probably a couple more medium-long runs, but probably nothing over about 15K. There will likely be a steep taper in the last week where I will take it very easy with just some tuning up. My coach has said that like the rest of the training we will discuss and plan the taper as it goes, so I am not exactly sure what I will be doing, but I know there will not be be anything too taxing.

Whatever happens I feel like I am as ready as I'll ever be for this marathon. I feel strong and confident, and I'm excited to see what the day brings me and what I can bring to the day. Another friend has warned me about the inevitable post-marathon let-down, so has suggested I plan for something fairly soon after the marathon. I have some plans, but first things first. The "big show" will be coming soon.

Terry Fox Run

2010-09-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I ran the Terry Fox Run in Stanley Park. I hadn't heard of Terry Fox until a couple years before I moved to Canada when I watched a made-for-TV movie special about the story of his Marathon of Hope. For those who have grown up in Canada, it is impossible to not know the story of this legendary man, even if you are not a runner. Terry Fox was a young runner who was stricken with cancer at a young age. When his cancer was in remission, he set out to run across Canada to raise money and awareness for cancer research. He was forced to cut his cross-Canada run short when the cancer re-invaded his body, but the legacy he left behind was bigger even than that Marathon of Hope itself. Each year cities and towns across Canada host Terry Fox Runs to continue Terry's Marathon of Hope by running and raising money for cancer research.

Yesterday I ran not for myself but all those I know and those around me that have been affected by this awful group of diseases. I ran with a group from work and my gym and we all felt a bit if Terry within us.

If you don't know the story of Terry Fox I encourage you to listen to Steve Runner's podcast Episode 46, a wonderful tribute to this running legend.

Coho Festival 14K Race Report, September 12

2010-09-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

“At about kilometre five you'll get to the first aid station with water, Gatorade, and candy. And at the second aid station at kilometre 10, you'll find more water and Gatorade, and chips and M&M's.” Chips? As in potato chips? M&M's? This race is going to be great, I thought.

We were listening to the course description and race instructions before the start line of the Coho Festival Run, a 14K race on roads and gravel trails from Kits Beach in Vancouver to Ambleside Park in North Vancouver. It was one of the first really rainy day of the season and I had a race to do. My plan was to run as hard as I could, treating this race as a fitness indicator for my upcoming marathon in just four weeks.

At the start of the race we were to loop around Kits pool. The field of 450 people bottle-necked onto a path about five metres wide, so for the first half a kilometre I felt like I was barely moving. But eventually I got into my groove and was hitting about a 5:00/km pace. Kilometre 4 took us over the Burrard Bridge, which would prove to be pretty easy at this stage of the race (recall how it felt for me on very tired legs at the end of my last race). On the other side of the bridge I felt like I was still working hard but maintaining a very steady pace-- until the real work began. The course took us up to the peak of Stanley Park, on the trail up Prospect Point hill. I've been running this hill almost every week in training, but when you are at or near lactate threshold it is a different animal. I actually had to... stop and walk. It cost me at least a minute. But I fought through it, made it to the top, and got a small handful of M&M's at that 10K aid station. That was a nice treat.

The rest of the race was tough going, but I just kept pushing. Running over the Lions Gate bridge was glorious and inspiring. On the other side of the bridge, the 12K mark came a few hundred metres early on my watch on this “perfectly measured” course-- whatever, I'll take it. I ran the last 2K in hard for a finish time of 1:11:38 (5:07/km pace). That was good enough for 148th overall and 15/82 in my F40-49 age group (strong field-- winner of this age group came in at 57:43).

I really enjoyed this race, and thought it was a good indicator of where my fitness is now. I do feel like I was working pretty hard for a pace which about the same as my last half-marathon, but I also know that this was a tougher course and I wasn't tapered or rested for this race. I am happy overall with my result and the effort I had yesterday, and I am excited about the rest of my training. Bring it on.

Training update

2010-09-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

Only four weeks to go till Victoria Marathon and I'm getting anxiously excited.
My training is going really well. I won't post a week-to-week update here, because you can see that on itsmyrun or Runningmania if you are interested in the details. But I will mention a few key runs I've done in the past two weeks since my last update: two long runs of 32K and 34K, another progression tempo run, and a tempo interval run earlier this week. The paces of these runs were right on where I wanted them to be. The rest of the running has been easy paced, including some fun social runs with Chantelle and Mike.

I feel mentally and physically ready to take on this marathon. I am at the peak of training and fitness right now, with just two more hard weeks before a two-week taper. I have my marathon goal in sight, but I am also cautiously realistic about all possibilities. This is not a lack of confidence at all, but simply the knowledge that I will do my best on that day with what I have. To paraphrase someone more eloquent than myself, I am confident that the universe will unfold as it should.

Tomorrow I am doing the Coho Festival 14K Run from Kits Beach to Ambleside Beach in North Vancouver. Although I have not tapered for this race, I will treat it as a real race and attempt run my fastest pace for the day. This will be a good indicator of fitness as well as a good hard workout.

Running with podcasts

2010-09-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

During these last few months I have been doing most of my long training runs alone. I often like listening to music on shorter runs, especially hard and faster runs, but lately I have been enjoying listening to podcasts. Especially on long solo runs, podcasts can help pass the time and help make the running more enjoyable. Now, I am not interested in getting into a debate about running with headphones-- I'm not a purist that thinks that you must run with no distractions to fully benefit from the training and "listening to your body". I do not use my iPod during races or when I am running with other people, but when I am alone, especially on the longer runs or on the treadmill, I just find it much more enjoyable.

Podcasts are audio programs that you can download, usually for free, on iTunes and from other sites. Some started out as actual radio programs on public stations like CBC and NPR, others are produced by commercial broadcasters or associated with magazines or other websites, yet others are produced by amateurs with varying degrees of broadcasting experience.

I used to enjoy listening to talk radio, but the quality of programming on commercial radio has gone down to the point where I can not find anything worth my time. Public radio has some good shows, but station reception and scheduling make running with a portable radio less than optimal. Podcasts are not only a welcome substitute for talk-radio, but provide a wealth of content that radio can not come close to matching.

When I first started listening to podcasts, I enjoyed mostly the science-based ones like CBC's Quirks and Quarks, This Week in Science, Science Talk (from Scientific American Magazine), and NPR's Science Friday. Lately I have been listening to more running and triathlon based podcasts, including Phedippidations, RunRunLive, Candotri, Kelownagirl Tris, and Geeks in Running Shoes. I have included the links to blogs associated with those podcasts I mentioned, but they can also all be found by searching for the titles in the iTunes store. In the coming weeks, I will be reviewing some of my favorites of these podcasts, but in the meantime, I encourage you all to give some of them a try.

The intersection of my work life and running life

2010-09-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.vancouversun.com/Runner+beats+from+campus+campus/3477381/story.html

Running from Surrey to Langley is faster than taking the bus.

At least it was for distance runner David Palermo, 27, who beat a bus in a race from Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Surrey campus to its Langley campus on Wednesday.

Palermo finished the 19-kilo-metre stretch in just over an hour, with the bus lagging behind him by 13 minutes, said Kwantlen's student association spokesman Nathan Griffiths.

The competition was staged by the student association in light of the province's decision to expand the U-Pass program -- which gives students cheaper transit fares -- to all universities and colleges across the Lower Mainland.

But unless TransLink improves its "poor" service in Surrey and Langley, the U-Pass won't be worth the $30 a month for many Kwantlen students, Griffiths said.
"Unfortunately, a U-Pass is more valuable in the downtown area where there's already good bus service," Griffiths said. ...

I posted this link on Facebook yesterday, a rare example of where my work life and running life intersect. David is a running friend of mine, and it's no accident he was chosen to run this "race" against the bus from one Kwantlen campus to another. David is one of the city's fastest runners, and not many people can run 19K in just over an hour. Yet the stunt proves the point that transit between the two campuses is slower than it should be, and makes it difficult for students who have to take courses on both campuses to rely on transit service.

Still after posting the link on Facebook I have learned that we have it pretty good here in the greater Vancouver area, even compared to Canada's biggest city. Toronto really should have better transit service for a city its size; the truth is that the speed of the service varies depending greatly on where you live and where you're going, even in the highly densely populated areas of the city.

I also learned that my own commute from home to Kwantlen's Richmond campus will now take me about 38 minutes by a combination of bus, Skytrain, and walking. The distance is just under 9K. I thought the new Skytrain line between Vancouver and Richmond would make the trip much faster than my old route on buses, but because of connections and the walking distance from the station, it ends up being just a bit shorter. As always, the limiter in transit travel is usually how close you are to the entry points, as well as the time needed for transfers. If I run, that will take me only about 50-55 minutes; I won't beat the bus, but it's pretty close. Likely I'll end up driving most of the time, which will take only 15 minutes when traffic is light with pretty cheap parking available for faculty. But I will consider a run commute a couple times per week, or maybe even a spin on the commuter bike.

Progression run Thursday

2010-09-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

I had a great progression run yesterday. This was similar to my progression run last week, although I was a bit more consistent with the pacing. The run consisted of 5K at easy pace, 5K at marathon pace, 3K at about half-marathon pace, 3K at 10K pace, and then 2K easy. That's 18K for a midweek workout, and it felt great. My actual paces were:

5K @ 5:55/km
5K @ 5:41/km
3K @ 5:10/km
3K @ 5:02/km including a fast last kilometre at 4:58/km

This run was done on the hilly trail-loop near my house, so I'm particularly happy with the overall effort of this run.

This morning my legs felt just comfortably sore-- not painful, but I could feel that I had done some work. My muscles seem to be properly stressed by the hard running but not to the point of pain or injury-- just enough for the desired training effect.

My other runs this week have been social runs with two of my favorite running partners, including my friend Mike. I'm looking forward to a weekend that includes some more social running this weekend, including another run of at least 32K.

Six weeks to go

2010-08-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Week of August 23-29

This has been a great week of training. My two key runs were a progression tempo run on Thursday and my long run on Sunday of 32K. I'm happy to say that my weekly running is about where it was when I reached the peak of training during my last marathon training cycle two years ago; yet this time, I still have six weeks to go including three hard training weeks. I finished the week with 78K total.

The progression tempo run on Thursday was supposed to be about 5K at easy pace, then 4K at marathon pace, 3K at half-marathon pace, 2K at 10K pace, 0.5-1K at 5K pace if I could manage it, and then 2K easy. What I actually did was 5K at just under 6:00/km, 4K at 5:25/km, 3K at 5:07/km, 2K at 5:03/km, and then 2K cooldown at about 5:30/km. I wasn't able to go under 5:00/km even though I tried as I reached the fast end. My coach says this is fine-- I am not doing any top speed work these days, and those speeds get harder to hit when the mileage is high and mostly slower. I felt strong throughout, but just couldn't go faster. Still, overall, a great hard run.

On Sunday I did my longest run so far in this training cycle of 32K in 3:18, or about 6:12/km. That's right where I think my speed should be for my long runs. I know people who are also training for 4-hour marathons that seem to want to push their long runs faster than this. I don't see the need to, and I want to make sure I have the speed on my hard run day. That run included two times up a fairly big hill; I'm trying move out of my comfort zone of flat running.

My other running this week was all at easy pace, including a nice 12K run with a friend on Wednesday and another 12K run on Saturday. In my last marathon training cycle I only did very short runs on the day before a long run; I think these longer 75-minute runs will be another key to my marathon success this time, along with getting in more long runs.

I look forward to another progression tempo run this week, along with another long run around 32K or maybe a big longer. Wish me luck.

New Blog

2010-08-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start a new blog. This will be a somewhat of a digital scrapbook where I can post links to my favorite websites, blogs, and podcasts as well as a portal to my other training and race report posts.

A while back I started a blog, but it didn't last too long-- probably because I expected too much for and from it. For now this will just be a place that brings me together with my on-line running community. We'll see where it goes

Right now I'm in the middle of a training program for the Victoria Marathon October 10. My goal again will be to break the four-hour mark; this time will earn me a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon, which has always been my distance running goal. I am from the Boston area and have been inspired by those who have qualified for the marathon since starting distance running six years ago. I hope you enjoy following my journey.